Bookrest



Oct. 30, 1951 w. G. FINCH 1 2,573,191

BOOKREST Filed Oct. 25, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET l INVENTOR 12 warmcu ATTORNEY fatented Oct. 30, 1951 I ES I 2,573,19n

BooKRE'sT WillardGeorge Finch, Toronto; Ontario,:Ganadar- Application'ct0ber-25, 19492Srial Na: 1235440 3-:Claims.-. (014281-33) This inVenti-on-LreIates: generally to book rests; and more particularly' to a. combination l book cover and book rest adapted to be self-supporting; so that'a-book may be supported on: aplane sur face atan:inclinatiomthereto. v

'An obj'ect'of this-inventiorr is to providers. book rest whi'ch v is 1 readily adaptable to 1 protectively cover th'e' book when the book is closed, andwhich wi-ll support the book-in an inclinedpositiorr on a planesurface when it is desired. to read the contents lot the book.-

A further :object of this inventiontis :.to. provide means' wh'ereby pages of the book .1 may. be held: apart while .thereader reads :the icontents I thereofi V Theafeaturesof thisinventionwhich are believedto be noveland patentable are pointed out izr the appended' claims, but -fora better understanding of thefo'regoing and still further objects and advantages of the invention, reference :may be ha'd to the :following specification and accompanyingidrawings wherein. like. characters of reference indicate corresponding. parts throughout the seve-ral views and wherein:

Figs 1 isa plan view of one. embodiment of this device Ei'g. 2 isa perspective view-of the support shown ini Figz. l illustrating-how a portion of the'cover isitoldedldow-n in order to provide a support andv showing the "manner; in which a. typical. book: wou'ldnbersupported';

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 in: Fig; .2 -il-lus-. tratir'igithe...mannerfin whichithe folded portion is maintained in place, and also illustrating the manner in which theipages of the book are held apart; I I

Fig. 4 is a plan view of an alternative construction;

Fig. 5 is'a'perspectiveview'of thesupport shown in Fig. 4:and illustrating the manner in which a book is placed therein and themanner in which the "pages are held .apart and Fig 6 is a section onthe line 6+-6 in Fig. illustrating h'owi the portions are'ifolded and 5 maintained implace, the bookbein'g omitted --to be'tte'r show the construction of the device.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 the rest is in the form of a book cover of cardboard or similar stiff blendable material, having rectangular pockets 1 and 8 at its lower corners secured along two sides to the edges of the cover and free along the other two sides to receive and retain the back of a book 9 as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

A transverse crease line I0 is provided in the cover to allow the upper portion II of the cover 2:. to beswung td a position out-oi alignment with; or 'at an angle to, thelower' 'portion thereof, to provide a siipporte For convenience the upper andlowe'r-portionsof: the cover will'b'e hereinafter referred tO -as the support =--I I and' the supporting member I I respectively.

Figs 2 'and 3 ill-ustrate=the mar iner in which the rest m'ayi be used as a support it)! "retaining the book in an inclined position on a: plane surface sucha's a table Itwill be evident that to use 'the rest as a cover iarthe book;-it is merely necessary to swing the'support I I back into alignment with the-supporting member I I a in order 1' that the i book maybe closedi Retaining imeans extending. between: the"v sup! port" andithe supporting.:member.- are used in" order to retain the support in book-supportin'g, position. The said'imeans comprises -a' cord-I2 secured to the" outer edge of the support: I I by passingit througha hole in thersupport and tying it? At the'free en'dlofi the cord is-a tab '13. When the-rest"isrin=-b0ok supporting position" the cord can bearranged toextend forwardly beneath the base ofthe:supportingmember with the tab I3 located betweenthe open pages of the :book as shown in Fi'gs.. 2 and 3. The tab is-constructed of c the same'rmaterial'as that ofthe cover and istprovided with a crease line I 4 extendin'g theree across andfto one side :ofthe point of junctionof the cordrwith thetab; Thetab may therefore beifolded sothat a portion thereof may-extend between the-loweredgepf 'thebook and-the supportingrmember asshown in Figure 3. Duetothe weight .101 :the book; the :cord I2 is maintained in a taut condition and-the remaining portion or the tab I3 is pressed down upon; thepiages of the book therebyholdingtheminpressed apart condition'.

The Loordz I 2" is: shown as" a 5 string ofseveral" strands :but it is. -c1earthat a piece of; woven material ;such.-:a's.:a-. ribbomor "a strip of fibrous materialnsuch asleather; oria' stripiof plastic or the equivalent' material.could be used, and the word cord isxused asageneridterm't0 cover all of the above:

To provide strength and rigidity for the support the upper portion II is of two-ply construe.- tion, whereas the lower portion is single ply.

Referring to the alternative construction disclosed in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, the book rest is formed of cardboard or similar stifi? bendable material folded along its upper edge to form inner and outer plies I5 and I6, and folded in at each side to form pockets I! and I8 adapted to receive the back of a book I9.

A transverse crease line is provided in the outer ply in order to allow a portion to be swung to a position out of alignment with the other portion to provide a support 2| for the supporting member. It will be evident that before this can be done it is necessary to release the edges 22 and 23 from the pockets l1 and I8 respectively. This may be done by simply shearing the outer ply along the said edges, but it is preferably accomplished by providing a substantially'triangular out in the outer ply of the pocket, so that, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, a tongue is provided at each end of the support 2|, the tongues being indicated at 24 and 25. In this manner the support is rendered more rigid, and in addition,

pages thereof to retain the book rest in folded position and hold apart the pages of the book when the book rest is in book supporting position, said tab having a line of weakness extending transversely thereof and on one side of the junction of the cord and tab, the portion of the tab engaged by the cord being adapted to be positioned over the hinged portion of the open book and to extend past each side of the hinge portion over the pages of the book to hold apart the pages of the book and the remaining portion thereof being adapted to extend beneath the supporting member.

when the book is closed and the support is swung downwardly and inwardly adjacent the inner ply.

the tongues 24 and 25 may be" folded'into the pockets to secure the support 2| in place. Thefi.

tongues are slipped into place through a pair of slots 26 and 21 which extend longitudinally of the pockets and open through the inner ply into the pockets per se. To illustrate this more clearly, in Fig. 4 the tongue 24 is shown uninserted in the slot 26 whereas the tongue 25 is shown in inserted position in the slot 21.

Retaining means is provided in this construction in the same manner as in the preferred construction, a cord |2 being secured to the lower portion of the support 2| and extending forwardly through an eyelet 28 in the supporting member and it is there attached at its free end to a tab 29. In this case, the tab is not shaped in the same manner as the tabl3 since by providing the eyelet 28 through which the cord l2 passes, the tab will stay in place adjacent the bottom portion of the book.

It should be'noted that the tabs used in both constructions, provide not only a means for holding apart the pages of the book when the devices are used as book rests, but when the book is closed and the devices are used as book covers, the tabs then may be used as page markers. The tabs are at all times attached to the devices, and therefore can never become lost or misplaced.

It is thought that the construction and use of the invention will be apparent from the above description of the various parts and their purpose. It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A book rest having a substantially rigid supporting member adapted to engage the covers of a book, a support hingedly secured to the supporting member and foldable out of alignmenttherewith to support the supporting member in an inclined position on a plane surface, a cord secured at one end to the support and at the other end to a tab of substantially rigid material, said tab being adapted to engage a book between the 2. A book rest comprising a cover having a transverse line of weakness intermediate its upper and lower edges whereby the upper portion may be folded out of alignment with the lower portion to provide a support to support the lower portion in an inclined position on a plane surface, pockets at each side of the cover below the line of weakness adapted to receive the covers of a book to hold thebook open when it is supported by the support, a cord attached at one end to the support, an eyelet provided in the supporting member through which the cord extends and a tab secured to the other end of the cord, said tab being adapted to be positioned over the hinge portion of the open book and to extend past each side of the hinge portion over the pages of the book to hold apart said pages.

3. A book rest comprising a cover having an inner ply and an outer ply both of substantially rigid material, a pair of oppositely disposed pockets adapted to receive and retain the covers. of a book to hold the book open when it is supported by the support, and a transverse line of weakness in the outer ply to allow a portion of said ply to be swung out of alignment with the remainder of the cover to provide a support when the book is in opened position, the portion of the outer ply which is swung out having a tongue at each side thereof, said tongue providing rigidity to the support and serving to retain the outer ply in contact with the inner ply when it is not swung out, a cord'secured at one end to the support and at the other end to a tab of substantially rigid material, said tab being adapted to be positioned over the hinge portion of the open book and to extend past each side of the hinge portion over the pages of the book to hold apart the pages of the book when the book rest is in book supporting position.

WILLARD GEORGE FINCH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Barrett Oct. '7, 1941 

